Originally Posted by GeeRam
Of the cuff thoughts time.....
It's a shame BAe/Saab didn't instead look at a possible navalised version of the Gripen some years ago instead, or did they?
If I recall correctly, the old Viggen was designed to land on sort stretches of road using a 'no flare' technique like a carrier deck landng. If the Gripen was designed for similar punishment wouldn't a navalised version be easier to create since the airframe would aleady be strong enough for the deck landings?
A quick web search found (
http://www.vectorsite.net/avgrpn.html )
and to quote;
"Unlike the Viggen, the Gripen does not have a thrust reverser. The canard foreplanes can be tilted almost 90 degrees to act as airbrakes on landing. There are carbon brakes on all the wheels of the tricycle landing gear to reduce landing roll. Interestingly, pilots using the Gripen flight simulators have performed simulated carrier landings, without an arresting hook; it seems a bit unlikely that this will ever be done in practice, however. The landing gear has an antiskid system. The two-wheel nose gear retracts backward, while the single-wheel main gear retract at a forward angle."
Me, I'd want a hook!